The Shepherds Crook Doctrinal Statement

A lot of mean fundies have been pressuring me to put down our Doctrinal statement in writing. Well, here is where our conversation has guided us this far.

Shepherds Crook Doctrine

Shepherds Crook church has no official doctrine. The Shepherds Crook church recognizes that all people have an innate knowledge of what is right and wrong, and the Shepherds Crook Church celebrates this like no other religion. The basic concepts and ideals of the Jedi religion, which were introduced by the fictional Star Wars movies, best describes our faith. These concepts were quickly and readily recognized by many people throughout the world as being a religion that they could more readily ascribe to than traditional religions.

Basic concepts of Shepherds Crook faith that we at the Shepherds Crook Church would like to promote are the following:

The Basic Concepts

There is one all powerful force that binds the entire universe together. Some people call this God, Allah, Krishna, or the Force. It is "an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together". This is a concept that most religions of the world concur with. Some refer to it as their deity, some refer to it as a life force, but the one thing nearly all religions agree with, is that there exists a single unifying force.

There are 2 sides to this force,or God if you prefer; The dark side and the light side. "Beware of the dark side... The dark side leads to fear. Fear leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering". Good versus Evil is a common element through most religions. The issues of good versus evil, right versus wrong permeate through the doctrines of all religions. Most religions attempt to state what is right and wrong, to establish their moral code. Sometimes religions make codes that don't reach a great consensus. Outsiders, and sometime insiders, begin to judge their religious code by something more powerful, something more innate, an innate ability to know what is right and wrong. This is the Shepherds Crook belief, that morality, good and evil, are all axioms of this force, and that we must listen to the force so that we will know the right thing to do.

Can good exist without evil? The Shepherds Crook believe that good and evil are only axioms of the all powerful and unifying force. The force contains all that is good and all that is bad. We all are free and sentient beings who have the capability to do good or evil. It is our choice of direction that determines if we do good or evil. The existence of good and evil is necessary for freewill.

Is the Shepherds Crook fiction? Many religions claim to be the one and only true religion, thus necessitating that all other religions are fictitious. In addition, although many religions claim to speak the word of God, but the truth is they are only the written word of prophets or followers of the religion. There is no way to prove or deny that what was written was the word of God. Several other religions openly admit that their text is not the word of God, and that it is only a prescribed behavior or a philosophy of life (e.g. Buddhism, Scientology). Most non fiction is a discussion of science and life, of things that can be observed, quantified and readily challenged for its truth and authenticity. But not religion. Any religion put to scrutiny is merely words on paper, with no ability to confirm its authenticity. The Shepherds Crook church makes no denial that its name and terminology originates from a historical past, but the concepts and ideals that are identified by Shepherds Crook followers are known for their innate truth. The sun existed before it was given a name, and it could be revered as a God, however, when the sun finally had a human name, it could be written about and communicated with others. The Shepherds Crook religion is just like the Sun, it existed before any group gave it a name, and now that it has a name, people all over the world can share their experiences of the Shepherds Crook religion, here in the Shepherds Crook Church.

I hope all you mean fundies are happy.